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Festivals and Ceremonies

Matariki 2010

In Pipiri/June each year, the star cluster Matariki (Pleiades) appears in our dawn skies.

The Maori New Year begins with the sighting of the first new moon after the first appearance of Matariki. This year it occurs on 14 Pipiri/June.

Traditionally Matariki marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the planting season. Today Matariki means celebrating the unique place we live in, and giving respect to the land we live on.

Festivities differ from iwi to iwi but for most New Zealanders Matariki is a time of remembrance, hospitality and new beginnings.

Matariki is a time for inward reflection and renewal. It is a time to consider the year ahead and make plans to improve our lives and enhance our communities. It is a chance to come together and share knowledge and skills.
There are a number of exciting events and activities happening around the city to celebrate Matariki.

Check out:

Matariki events at Wellington City Libraries : He korero o te Wa (News/Events).
Matariki events at Te Papa.
Other Matariki events around Wellington.

Matariki 2010 on Wellington City Libraries Kids Blog.
Matariki info on the Maori Language Commision website and TeAra.govt.nz: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, New Zealand History Online.

Some of collection on Matariki:

Matariki on the WCL Kid's Catalog.
Matariki : the Māori New Year, by Libby Hakaraia.
Matariki: te whetu o te tau = Aotearoa Pacific New Year.
The astronomical knowledge of the Māori genuine and empirical: including data concerning their systems of astrogeny, astrolatry, and natural astrology, with notes on certain other natural phenomena, by Elsdon Best.
Te kāhui o Matariki: contemporary Māori art of Matariki, edited by Libby Hakaraia and Colleen Waata Urlich; photography by Norman Heke.
Scoop & Scribe search for the seven stars of Matariki, by Tommy Kapai Wilson; edited by Becky Hare and Graham Stride; illustrations by Rob Turvey.

Books:

300 unmissable events and festivals around the world
by Whatsonwhen.
"Unmissable: 300 Events & Festivals Around the World is a four-colour inspirational guide book to events and festivals, celebrations and natural phenomena in the world's top cities, secret retreats and far-flung places. It also offers practical information and insider tips, from how to get there, to where and when to buy tickets before they sell out, the best vantage point for a street festival or cycle race. First-person recommendations by Whatsonwhen editors and lively descriptions to bring the sound, smell, feel and taste of each experience to life. The guide targets open-minded travellers who want to live the local experience and make the shift from observer to participant. Readers are also invited to access a wider selection of events on the associated website." (Real Groovy)
A year of festivals: how to have the time of your life
In the Lonely Planet series.
"Takes you around the world in pursuit of festivals in all their flamboyant colour and variety. Discover music, camel races, feats of endurance, manic street parties and monumental food fights. From the sublime (Venice's Carnevale or India's Krishna Janmastami) to the absurd (Finland's Wife-Carrying Championships or Australia's Beer Can Regatta), the best of the famous and little-known alike are represented here. Organized by month and week to help you to plan a great festival experience at any time of year. Country and Festival indexes allow you to also search by the destination of your next vacation, or by the name or theme of the festival you want to experience." (Library Catalogue)
Planet Party: a world of celebration
By Iain Gately.
"'On almost any given day of every year, at some point on the globe, people will be gathering together in celebration - to stage parades, to venerate their gods, to dress up in disguise, or to strip to their skins and abandon themselves to pleasure ...' Essential reading for the travelling or armchair hedonist, Planet Party is a tour of the world's greatest festivals - a multicultural voyage of celebration across the continents and through the seasons. Its itinerary includes such famous events as the Munich Oktoberfest, Trinidad Carnival and the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and also lesser known, if equally exciting spectacles like Derbyshire's 1,000-a-side Shrovetide football match, and the Burning Man Project, a fire festival staged in a remote American desert. In addition to providing an impression of what it feels like to be at each event, Planet Party examines the history and philosophies behind them, exploring matters as diverse as ideal beauty, the Hindu concept of rebirth, and the origins of beer drinking. Stimulating and richly coloured, Planet Party is an erudite study of our love of celebration." (Amazon)
World party: the Rough guide to the world's best festivals
"There's nothing like the life-affirming buzz of a major festival, whether it's toasting the arrival of summer in Iceland, chugging beers at Munich's Oktoberfest, or joining in the orgy of beats at Ibiza's closing parties. This book is a guide to over two hundred of the greatest events on earth, and represents the culmination of years of research, travelling and party-hopping by Rough Guide authors and contributors. Armed with this book, you'll find out all you need to know before you go, and what to do while you're there, as well as the practical details that can make or break your trip.
Every country in the world has its own festivals and celebrations. They're a colourful key to unlocking local cultures and can make for a fantastic travel experience." (Amazon)
Dates and meanings of religious and other festivals: with a calendar for 1997-2001
By John G. Walshe and Shrikala Warrier.
"The latest edition of this resource book takes us through to the next millennium with carefully researched dates for all religious and other festivals, with new sections on national, folk and secular festivals and the origin s of major religions." (Amazon)
The Naked Man Festival, and other excuses to fly around the world
By Brian Thacker.
"Kooky festivals of all shapes and sizes exist around the world, as illustrated by this humorous travelogue that recounts the dozen most outrageous celebrations the author discovered on his six-month, six-country adventure. In search of the most unusual and wildest festivities, the author was pelted with beans, amazed by giant snow cows, stampeded in a temple full of men wearing nothing but "nappies," befriended by alien abductees, and much more while attending a Hogmanay in Scotland, a Tomato Festival in Ripley, Tennessee, a Bean Throwing Festival in Tokyo, and a Voodoo Festival in Haiti. The side-splitting stories will inspire readers to attend/or create peculiar festivals of their own, and on a more serious note, explore and appreciate other cultures.
Brian Thacker is the author of Planes, Trains, and Elephants and Rule No. 5: No Sex on the Bus." (Amazon)
Jump up: good times throughout the seasons with celebrations from around the world
By Luisah Teish.
"Many people are unaware of the connection between holidays and the earth-based seasonal traditions from which these special days evolved. Using myth, folklore, and poetry, this book reacquaints readers with well-known traditions. Organized by season, each section begins with a story followed by rituals that readers can enact to create their own celebrations. Ceremonies and traditions come from Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the South Pacific, from Christmas and Kwanzaa to the Ritual of the Cleansing Fire and the Building of the Autumn Equinox Altar." (Amazon)
Sacred festivals
By Jeremy Hunter.
"Presents a journey through 20 countries and four continents chronicling the world's most culturally and spiritually rich festivals and celebrations." (Amazon)
 

Page last updated 5 October 2009

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